11 January,2009 03:13 PM IST | | PTI
About a dozen lawsuits have been filed against Satyam Computer in US courts, charging the Indian IT firm with duping thousands of American investors out of billions of dollars.
When asked about the specific damages sought in the lawsuit, law firm Vianale & Vianale LLP's counsel Keneth J Vianale said that the sum duped could be in hundreds of millions of dollars.
Vianale said in an emailed statement to PTI: "We have not alleged a specific damages amount that we are seeking.
That will be a subject of expert testimony. "However, in cases of this sort, it is not unusual for the damages to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars."
Another law firm Pomerantz Haudek Block Grossman & Gross said that it "has commenced an investigation of the scandal on behalf of investor clients, and is exploring the possible claims that can be raised, including under the federal securities laws ... "... and focusing on identification of possible defendants in addition to the Raju brothers, such as outside auditors, and on the location of assets in this country."
After the scandal was revealed, trading in Satyam shares was halted by the NYSE on January 7 and the stock exchange has said that it is assessing whether the firm deserves to stay on the bourses. The trading could be resumed on Monday if its review is satisfactory, the exchange said in a statement.
In these lawsuits, Satyam Computer has been charged with duping thousands of American investors by artificially inflating share price.
While two lawsuits were filed on January 7, the day when Satyam's founder-chairman Ramalinga Raju resigned after disclosing massive financial irregularities to the tune of over a billion dollar, so far there has been nearly a dozen lawsuits that have been filed against the company.
Earlier, nearly six law firms including Brodsky & Smith LLC, Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, Harwood Feffer LLP, Sarraf Gentile LLP, Vianale & Vianale LLP and Izard Nobel LLP had filed class action law suits against Satyam Computer.
Besides, these five more lawsuits have also been filed including Pomerantz Haudek Block Grossman & Gross, Finkelstein Thompson, Dyer & Berens, Brualdi Law Firm, and Federman & Sherwood.
Meanwhile, Finkelstein Thompson has also announced a class action lawsuit on behalf of Satyam Computer ADR holders in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In another instance, Dyer & Berens has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of investors who purchased the American Depository Receipts of Satyam Computer between January 6, 2004 and January 6, 2009.
Glancy Binkow & Goldberg, Federman & Sherwood, Harwood Feffer and Izard Nobel have filed their class action lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Identical suits filed by Vianale & Vianale and Sarraf Gentile are pending in the Manhattan federal court.
